


Friends in Low Places

by Fidollwa



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Ghost Arthur, kind of, our Arthur meets alternate universe Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23898331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fidollwa/pseuds/Fidollwa
Summary: Instead of falling to his death, Arthur makes a new friend and gets some advice. (Did his own ghost count as new friend?)-----"The biggest concern he had right now wasn't broken bones but rather his own ghost? Staring at him? Arthur blinked once, twice before finally deciding he must've died without noticing somehow."
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Friends in Low Places

**Author's Note:**

> Good news: not dead! However college is currently kicking me while I’m already down so writing has fallen by the wayside a bit. I do have the next chapters of my other works mostly finished so you can look forward to that after finals are done. In the meantime here’s this little one shot I found kicking around in my notes. Please stay safe out there and thanks for reading!

If this was the afterlife Arthur had some choice words for whatever entity had dreamt this up. Well, all things considered he probably deserved worse. Even then the situation was more surreal than hellish and not something he'd sign up for willingly.

First off he was still at the bottom of the cliff Lewis had just dropped him off of. That stung but it made some kind of twisted sense. What goes around comes around right? It'd suck if this was all he had to look forward to for eternity though.

Next thing to note was that he didn't get skewered. Arthur kind of assumed that was how he should've died. Maybe him smacking into the floor did it? His back was sore and his prosthetic was still jittering but other than that he was fine, sore but nothing was broken. Considering he just was dropped off of a cliff this was probably the best case scenario.

The biggest concern he had right now wasn't broken bones but rather his own ghost? Staring at him? Arthur blinked once, twice before finally deciding he must've died without noticing somehow.

Just to make sure Arthur tested out each of his limbs and even pinched himself. Still felt that, so not dead? At least not yet anyway. 

The ghost was just floating there, seemingly as shocked as he was. His hair was bright yellow and looked more like lightning, all bright and sharp angles. Instead of looking angry, the ghosts eyes were slanted in a way that made it look perpetually sad which, yeah, seemed on brand for him. Arthur wondered for a moment where the hell he got that black jacket. 

"Ah-" the ghosts voice seemed to have that similar wavy kind of quality that Lewis did. "Fall to your death often then?"

All he could do was blink up at him. Narrow his eyes. Check himself over again.

"I... don't think I'm dead?" Arthur looked back up at the ghost for confirmation anyways. 

All he got was a shrug in response. "Not that I can tell."

A beat passed. Arthur looked back up to the sheer cliff he was on top a few minutes before and frowned. 

"Did you catch me?"

The other Arthur scratched his head and glanced upwards. "More like you kinda landed on me."

"Landed... on a ghost?"

"Look man, I'm just as lost as you are." The ghost waved his hands in the air defensively. Again Arthur could only be amazed that a skull could be so emotive, this particular one being annoyance. He huffed and put his hands in his pockets before seeming to notice something. "What happened to your arm?"

"Ah-" briefly Arthur considered the usual non-answer before shrugging, "demon dog bit it off. What happened to your... everything?" Arthur gestured vaguely.

"Well, best friend got possessed and pushed me off a cliff. Fun times." He nodded like this was a normal, everyday occurrance. 

"Uh," Arthur really didn't know how to respond to that, "small world, huh?"

The ghost Arthur floated closer and he barely held back the instinctive flinch. Of course the ghost noticed anyways and backed off a bit. His eyes narrowed before glancing up at the cliff side.

"Was he always like that?"

Arthur knew what he meant but he hoped he was wrong anyways. He hadn't talked about this, really talked about it, with anyone but Mystery. Somehow that didn't seem like it counted despite the supposed dog being quite the conversationalist. But saying it out loud felt like it was more real so instead of answering he tried playing dumb.

"Like what?" He rubbed the back of his neck, only now realising how clammy he actually was. Whether it was from the adrenaline or being face to face with his(?) own ghost was anybody's guess.

And considering that the ghost is or was some other version of him, he gave Arthur a look that said he knew exactly what he was up to. 

"I don't think I've ever seen him that angry. I mean he's been mad before but that," he glanced back up at the cliffs edge, "that was something else..."

And there it was. Not that Arthur hadn't noticed before but Lewis wasn't quick to anger. At least when he was still alive anyways. Arthur remembered back in their school days that he would stick up for him occasionally but he never actually wanted to fight anyone. 

Now though? Lewis had run the van straight off the road. The man had dragged him in here and dropped him to his death. He seemed to be nothing but anger, literally burning with it. Did Lewis not know that the others were with him in the van or did he just not care?

That question seemed to weigh on him more than almost being murdered.

Arthur sighed, propping his arms on his knees. The prosthetic still jittered once or twice but it seemed to be passing, somehow. 

"No, he wasn't like that for me. Here, I mean?" He shrugged. "Even with everything I never thought-" Arthur ran a hand down his face, "Death changes people I guess."

The ghost looked at him for a long moment and Arthur just realized what he'd said. 

"I guess." The ghost Arthur agreed, looking back up. He seemed pretty deep in thought. An awkward silence settled over the two and he wondered if he should say something else.

"How is he?" When the ghost looked confused he added, "Your Lewis I mean? Is he...?" Arthur gave his prosthetic a little wave.

"No, no," the ghost paused for a moment, looking pained. "He still has both arms, last that I checked."

"I'm sensing a but here."

That got him a look before the ghost let out a rattling sigh. "He didn't lose it but he's... not quite the same."

Arthur really wanted to know what he meant by that. He grabbed his prosthetic without thinking and the metal actually felt warmer than the rock underneath him. Part of him desperately wanted to know more but he also knew that pressing the subject wasn't the best idea.

"Are they happy there?" He asked instead. Some morbid part of him needed to know. In the countless what if scenarios running through his head that if he was the one that went over the edge would things be better. Logically he knew either way the answer wouldn't make him feel any better but him and his stupid monkey brain needed to know.

The ghost Arthur gave him a long, hard look. "Are they happy here?" He sounded bitter, almost spitting the words out. Instead of looking at him he was glaring holes in the ground.

It seemed death changed him too.

"No, not really," Arthur admitted after a while. The words tasted like ash in his mouth. "Vivi doesn't even remember Lewis and well, you saw the rest."

"They split up." Arthur looked up, eyes wide. The ghost still wasn't looking at him. "I think Vivi tried to power the both of them through it but... they didn't last."

"What about you?"

The other Arthur looked up, confused. "What about me?"

He grimaced, hesitant to ask. "I mean, you and Lewis?"

"You want to know if I forgave him for killing me." It wasn't a question. At Arthur's reluctant nod he shrugged, hands in his pockets again. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean yes and no?" Arthur huffed.

"I mean," he stretched it out like Arthur wasn't getting something simple, "It's complicated. I know he didn't mean to but it's hard to get past that. I thought for months that he killed me just to get rid of me. That he finally got tired of having me be the third wheel and went for the permanent solution."

He sighed, turning away from him. "The last thing I saw was his face and I can't get it out of my head. I don't know if I ever will. It's hard to get my thoughts all on the same page, I guess."

Arthur sat back, processing. It wasn't like he'd hoped for anything more but... It seemed like in any universe they were all destined to be unhappy. To carry enough baggage that they'd eventually buckle under the weight.

Neither of them said much for a bit after that. There wasn't much they could say, really. The ghost seemed to collect himself after a moment, trying to shrug off the blanket of doom and gloom around the two of them.

"I... just try to take care of them as best as you can," he said.

Arthur grimaced, looking away. "That's easier said than done." His former best friend had just tossed him to his death not ten minutes ago.

"Still." The other ghost had a faraway look on his face. "Speaking from experience."

He had no idea why ghost-Arthur was even asking him to do this. Surely he had to know what his situation was? What was he doing in his own world? For the first time he wondered what it would be like if he was the dead one, not hurting his friends but watching them fall apart all the same. He wouldn't go as far to say that one was better than the other, just different.

Arthur let out an unsteady breath. "Alright, I'll give it a shot." The ghost looked relieved until he continued. "If you promise to take care of your friends too."

"What?" The other Arthur looked mildly panicked at the idea. "I can't show up now!"

"Wait, wait," Arthur heaved himself to his feet finally, his back making its protests very well known. Oh he was gonna be sore for weeks. 

Trying to take a page out of Vivi's book, he planted his hands on his hips and gave the ghost his best disapproving look. Clearly there was a reason to this was Vivi's thing and not his considering he wasn't imposing in the slightest.

"You haven't talked to them at all?" He knew the answer but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

True to form, the other him scratched the back of his head, er, skull, and found a nearby stalagmite to be a lot more interesting. 

"Dude-"

"What do you even think I could say?" The ghost said, hands in his hair. And wow that was a lot of sparks actually. Arthur took a cautious step back. "'Hi, sorry I went and died and then watched you guys implode for two years?' I couldn't do that to them!"

It took him a moment to gather himself before Arthur spoke. "I think they'd be happy that you're still with them. That they could say what they didn't get a chance to." Arthur tried for a smile. "Speaking from experience."

The sparks had died down and the ghost let out a breathy sigh. For a moment neither of them said anything as the other him gave Arthur a look up and down. 

"Good to know I still suck at giving pep talks," the little laugh in his voice was covered by static. 

"Hey, I thought that was pretty good," Arthur argued back. 

Was it bad that was wasn't the most surreal thing that had ever happened to him? 

The ghost's eyes crinkled in a smile as he held out a hand. "Take care of yourself man."

Shaking hands with the ghost, Arthur was surprised it wasn't as odd to the touch as he thought it would be. A bit like static on an old CRT television.

"Good luck," Arthur said. And he meant it. Hopefully one of them came out on the other side better than when they arrived.

The ghost merely hummed. "I think you're gonna need more than I am," he jerked a thumb upwards, "watch out up there, yeah?"

Arthur glanced up. The sheer cliff face betrayed nothing, just shadows in the rocky outcroppings overhead. There was no way of knowing what was waiting for him at the top. When he looked back to respond, Arthur found he was alone again. The other version of himself was gone like he'd never existed in the first place. He spun around, footsteps echoing up and up. 

Just him again. 

Without much else to do, Arthur took a few tentative steps along the cliffs edge. He looked up again, just to make sure. Even if he was more athletic than a twig, he'd never be able to climb out of here. 

Luckily he didn't seem to need to, with a path sloping upwards at one end of the cliff side. Arthur took a deep breath, trying to gear himself up. There was no telling what he'd find after all but he couldn't stay here.

Nothing to do but climb.


End file.
